How Chip Speedups Transform Real-Time EPR Spectroscopy

Researchers at CEA-Leti, University of Stuttgart, and USC are shrinking electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy systems onto chips, enabling portable, real-time detection of free radicals in beer, batteries, blood, and more. CEA-Leti's new chip uses injection-locked phase detection to sweep frequencies in just 200 nanoseconds — three times faster than competing systems — without a speed-limiting feedback loop, enabling detection of micromolar free radical concentrations in 10-nanoliter samples. Meanwhile, pulse-mode EPR chips (which expose samples to a band of frequencies simultaneously) are advancing at USC and Stuttgart, with Stuttgart's Jens Anders launching a startup called SpinMagIC to commercialize the technology, starting with food quality testing and eventually targeting cancer detection.